In today’s Scripture reading, we will read about the borders of the Promised Land and see one of many explanations in the Bible about why the people of God should not tolerate sin and idolatry.
In the quiet town of Willow Creek stood a small white church with a steeple that caught the morning sun. For years it had been known for its warmth and its careful walk with Scripture. The people loved one another, sang with sincerity, and trusted their elders and their pastor to guard the flock.
Then a quiet change began. Pastor Elias, who had preached the Word faithfully for more than a decade, started to drift. At first it was subtle—softening the edges of difficult passages, emphasizing human kindness over clear calls to repentance, and speaking more of personal experience than of the authority of Scripture. One Sunday he suggested that certain commands in the New Testament were “culturally bound” and no longer binding. Another week he implied that sincerity of heart mattered more than obedience to what was written.
When concerned members brought the shift to the elders, Elias smiled gently and said, “I am only trying to make the message more accessible. A little flexibility will keep people from feeling judged. Surely we can allow room for growth without rigid insistence on every detail.”
The elders met late into the night. Some argued for patience. “He has served us well,” one said. “If we confront this too sharply, we risk splitting the church and losing a gifted teacher. The people are still coming, still giving, still at peace. A little understanding now may guide him back without public trouble.”
Others spoke more gravely. “The pastor is charged to preach the whole counsel of God,” the senior elder answered. “If we tolerate even a small departure from biblical truth, we teach the congregation that the standard can be adjusted for the sake of comfort. Error, like leaven, does not stay small. It works its way through the whole.”
Churches are often faced with dilemmas like this. When a little sin or error creeps into churches, Christians are tempted to tolerate it, thinking there will be no long-term harm. There are several warnings in the New Testament about the harm this can bring, which mirror a warning Yahweh gave Israel before they entered the Promised Land.
The first 49 verses of Numbers 33 contain a list of the various places Israel traveled through as they left Egypt, received the Mosaic Law, wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and then drew near to the Promised Land. The rest of chapter 33 contains some instructions about what they were to do when they finally entered the land of Canaan.
Num. 33:50 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,
The red circle on the map indicates the plains of Moab.
Num. 33:51 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River. They needed to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land.
Num. 33:52 then you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their carved stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;
Look at the words “dispossess”, “destroy”, and “demolish”. Israel was to destroy all the religious items in the land, not co-inhabit with them.
Num. 33:53 and you shall take possession of the land and inhabit it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
Num. 33:54 And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
Num. 33:55 But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it will be that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land which you inhabit.
Notice the words “pricks”, “thorns”, and “trouble”. Failure to destroy the false gods would bring trouble upon the Israelites because allowing the idolatry to exist among them would tempt Israel to become idolatrous.
Num. 33:56 And it will be as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”
Yahweh planned to punish the Canaanites for their idolatry. If Israel tolerated the idolatry, and became idolatrous themselves, then Yahweh would do to Israel as He planned to do to the Canaanites.
Just as Yahweh warned Israel not to tolerate idolatry because idolatry could corrupt Israel, so too the New Testament tells the church not to tolerate sin because sin can contaminate the church. Twice the New Testament tells us that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (see 1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9). Churches must remove sin and false teaching.
Num. 34:1 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 34:2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders.
Num. 34:3 And your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward.
Num. 34:4 Then your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon.
Num. 34:5 And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.
The red line roughly represents the southern border of the Promised Land.
Num. 34:6 ¶ ‘And as for the west border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its coastline; this shall be your west border.
The Mediterranean Sea was the west border.
Num. 34:7 ¶ ‘And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor.
Num. 34:8 You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad;
Num. 34:9 and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.
The locations of the places listed in verses 7-9 are not certain, but the northern border was north of the Sea of Galilee.
Num. 34:10 ¶ ‘For your east border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham,
Num. 34:11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth.
Num. 34:12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”
The Jordan River was the boundary on the east.
Num. 34:13 ¶ So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot among you as a possession, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes.
Num. 34:14 For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.
Num. 34:15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan opposite Jericho to the east toward the sunrise.”
When sin and error creep into the church, many Christians want to ignore it, thinking it will cause no harm. However, just as Yahweh warned Israel not to tolerate idolatry because idolatry could corrupt Israel, so too the New Testament tells the church not to tolerate sin because sin can contaminate the church. Twice the New Testament tells us that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (see 1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9). Churches must not tolerate sin and false teaching.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”